How do I find my grandfather's biological father?

BeverlyJohnson-Miller

My grandfather, Stuart Bennett Rea (1899/1900-1972), literally spent his life searching for his biological parents. He identified his mother, Elsie Crescy (1880-1918). No birth certificate has ever been found but my grandfather believed he was born in Chicago where Elsie resided.

Elsie was a Vaudeville actress and not married when she gave birth to my grandfather. Elsie's father was Richard L Crescy, an insurance broker and owner of three Chicago theaters.

Elsie put my grandfather in the care of a family friend, Annie Ida Irene Sands who adopted my grandfather after she married James Marion Rea in 1909. They married in New Hampshire and moved to Topsham Maine.

Through my mother's dna matches on ancestry, I know which matches belong to my grandfather's side of the family and can identify several who are related my grandfather's mother, Elsie Crescy. I have several 2nd-3rd cousin matches that I believe are on the side of my grandfather's father but don't know what if anything can be done to help identify how these matches are related to my grandfather.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

SerraNola

@BeverlyJohnson-Miller You have done all the right things in narrowing down the paternal matches and even finding a common ancestor. Your answers now may be found more in genealogy than in DNA.

Did you happen to view any of the RootsTech classes on DNA last week? Here is a link to one that might be helpful as it is a case study very similar to your quest:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/you-can-do-the-dna-4-see-what-dna-success-looks-like-real-case-studies?lang=eng

Actually, the instructor did a whole series and you may want to view all of them.

I am not a DNA expert but if you want help with the genealogy side, post detailed questions here and we'll try to see what we can find.

SerraNola

@BeverlyJohnson-Miller Do these DNA matches have a family tree/pedigree line you can view?

BeverlyJohnson-Miller

Most have family trees of some kind. Some are only have a couple generations. I have traced several of the trees of those with shared dna matches on my mom's ancestry site. I have the found common connections between some of them but don't know how my mom is related. For example, my mom has several "2-3rd" cousins who all trace back to a common great great grandfather. I suspect this man may be my mother's great or great great grandfather as well, which would possibly make him my grandfather's grandfather or great grandfather but how can I know for sure? I've even read all the newspaper clippings about these people to see if they had connections to the theater world or locations that coincided with Elsie Crescy, my grandfathers biological mom. I did find two brothers (the sons of the great/great grandfather that those cousins trace back to) who were actors and playwrights still uncertain if they could really be my grandfathers dad.

I hope you can make sense of what I've written. Any help is greatly appreciated.

BeverlyJohnson-Miller

Thanks so much! I will take a look at the RootsTech classes.